Modest Heroes

3 short series made into a movie. Not a fan of kanino&kanini as it was boring to watch compared to invisible and life aint gonna lose. Love the 2nd short and adore the 3rd. Recommended for family viewing.

This film is divided into estentailly four parts: three short films and an interview by one of the directors/producers.

The first two short films were good and the last short was great. The films seemed to be set up from the worst to the best.

The first short film, "Kanini & Kanino" was my least favorite out of the bunch. It revolves around two humanoid water creatures going on a dangerous journey to save their father. Now in this film, the use of CGI looked a bit odd with the 2D animation and the story felt a little inconsequential, mainly due to the short run time. This short wants to be a full length film and feels like a promo for one. Besides the negatives, the audio is done pretty nicely and the lack of verbal dialogue between characters makes for an interesting viewing experience.

The second short film, "Life Ain't Gonna Lose" is my second favorite short. It revolves around a mother and her son trying to live with the son's deadly food allergy. This film, like the previous, wanted to be a full length film. Also, some of the foreshadowing was a bit odd (pidgeon scene). Besides that, the short was good. The characters are really empathetic and the visuals are fantastic with a nice water color look to them.

The last film "Invisible" was fantastic. This film is about a lonely man, who is possibly invisible and weightless that must find a way to get out of that lonely state. Unlike the other shorts, it felt like it was made to be a short film. The visuals, cinematography, and animation were fantastic. The story was by far the most interesting out of the bunch as well.

The last segment of the film was a interview with one of the directors/producers. He discussed the creation, themes, length, and reason for making these shorts. Even though this was a bit odd compared to the rest of the film, it was rather insitful.

The only other issue and the main issue with the film is the length. It's only 53 minutes long! What you have to consider is if only three shorts are worth a full ticket price? It is sad because the prestigious Isao Takahata was going to direct a fourth short, but due to his passing they were limited to three shorts.

I had an all around good experience. I recommend watching and buying these short films. The general lack of recognition compared to their full length counterparts is really saddening. To buy this film is to not just support the foreign film and anime industry, but to also support the short film medium.

The core concept behind this movie is sweet, wonderful and touching. There are small things in everyday life that takes a great deal of courage and fortitude. There are "modest heroes" out there who deserves our recognition and I'm sure that we all know quite a few of them. Unfortunately, the three stories told here struggle to do justice to this idea. They range from meh to sort of ok-ish. On top of that, the music and the animation are often just too weak to support the narrative ambitions of this title. There are a couple of good ideas here and there, but the of lack pathos, weight and artistic direction results in a mediocre rendering of those ideas.

I disagree with the other reviews. These three shorts were well animated, had very different plots and can be enjoyed on a relaxing family evening.

The first story focuses on a brother and sister who find their courage after their family has been torn apart and they are forced to face their greatest fear. Their heroic gesture reunites the family, and the two grow up in the process. The second story deals with the theme of food allergies and how deadly they can be. It was an eye opener as it isn't something often dealt with in media in general. The little hero of this tale has had it rough his whole life but decides not to give up and through this act, he shows his bravery and will to fight. The last story depicts the life of a lonely man who has become so invisible to everyone around him that he appears to have lost all substance. Despite his struggles, he finds his courage after being shown kindness by two characters who don't exact judgement upon him. Through his act of heroism, he regains his substance. This one is the most allegorical of the three.

Don't go into this expecting a Studio Ghibli film. Rather, enjoy these shorts for what they are and the lessons young and old can learn from them. The animation is flawless, the stories are well rounded, they are all suspenseful with happy endings, and are overall very cute. Little slices of life with sound morals.

Studio Ponoc's second animation film ended up being a collection of three shorter films, each focusing on unlikely heroes that don't set out to do great deeds, but who achieve a small degree of greatness even still.

The first short film, Kanini & Kanino, was directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and resembles his directorial debut, The Secret World of Arrietty, a lot. Some would argue it resembles that film a bit too much. It's also the segment most resembling what you would call Studio Ghibli style, which makes sense because Yonebayashi worked for them when he directed Arrietty. It's a visually pleasing little story about shrimp-sized kids going on an adventure to find their lost father, but it doesn't really soar as far as plot goes.

The second film, Life Ain't Gonna Lose, was directed by Yoshiyuki Momose and tells of a young boy with a severe egg allergy. Even a hint of eggs in his food will cause him to go into shock and as thus he must live his entire life walking on eggshells, if you'll pardon my terrible pun. This is the segment that I liked the most, mainly because its characters have the most personality and you quickly come to care for their struggles. It's also the most grounded story. People like this most certainly exist and it must not be easy for them. Which makes the boy's upbeat energy all the more endearing.

The third and last film, Invisible, was directed by Akihiko Yamashita and tells of a man so alone and ignored that he's in danger of becoming so impermanent that he'll literally float away. But even those ignored can have their moment if they're in the right place at the right time. Visually the most interesting of the three segments and with a poignant message.

All in all I liked the collection. It's nothing groundbreaking, but each of the segments was at least animated well, the music was nice and I was positively reminded of those short story films Disney did in the 1940s.